The Trailmix 85' Frunner Build

Hey guys this build started with a completely stock 85' 4runner i picked up for 500 bucks at the auction a couple years ago. It was pretty trashed looking, had some awesome dragon seat covers and a sweet hurst shifter handle in it along with some dead 31" dayton mt's! Its got 26X,XXX miles on it but runs awesome. Started the second turn of the motor after sitting for 2 years in my shop without running. Anyways, on the the picture heavy build.

Pics of when i first got it wheeling it in the creek behind my house.





Stock Flex!







And sunk in medina lake which led to ripping out the carpet and herculining the entire floor in it.



Put new brakes on it and painted the calipers and drums orange.

 

After wheeling it at hidden falls a couple times i decided to lincoln lock the rear end.









Before welding.



After Welding.



Wheeled it a couple times after this and the difference it made was amazing so i decided i wanted more!

Shawn sold me some complete axles with gears for $500 and the plan at first was to just swap these complete axles into my rig so i started tearing my truck down.

Wheel i picked up from shawn.



Tires i bought of craigslist for $300, Pro Comp 33x12.50x15 X-Terrains.

 

Decided to tear down the stock axles after looking over the axles i got from shawn and realizing that they were orr hack jobs.

 

Cut the Stock shock towers off in preparation for shock hoops.





Tore all 4 third members apart to get the gears of the extra axles to put in my thirds.





Ordered a bunch of goodies from trail gear and east coast gear supply.





Got a spool for the rear and a lock right for the front with gear set up kits so i could put it all together.

Cut off some brackets on the front axle then cleaned and painted both to get them ready to go back in the truck. Also cleaned and painted the whole underside of the rig as well.

 

Picked up some 63" chevy springs from pick n pull and took the overload spring off of them then cleaned and painted them along with the shackles and hung them up with the axle.





Next i lined up the rear end and welded the new front hangers on the frame after cutting off the old ones.











And the truck sitting on the rear suspension finally, you can see the double shackle in the back that im gonna try out.





Started putting the 3rd members together, this process took a lot of trial and error since i had never set up a differential before but i finally got it done.



Bolted up the ring gear to the new spool.

 

Pounded the new races into the housings with a brass punch.





Pressed the new pinion bearing on with the original shim.



Put it all together. Took it apart and put it back together probably 5 times to get it all right.





After finishing the rear 3rd member i started on the front by pulling the spider gears out of the carrier in order to put the lock right in. Getting the retaining pin and pinion shaft out was the toughest part of this whole install. It took everything my 20 ton press had to press it in and out. Didnt get finished pics of it installed unfortunately but going back together and putting the locker in was very easy and straight forward.







Threw in the rear 3rd member and axle shafts so i could get the rear end back on the ground with the new tires and wheels all freshly painted and mounted.

 

Next step was putting the front axle back together. Something else that i had never done and took me a few trials and errors to get right.

Started out by putting the 3rd member in.



Then laid out all the parts and cleaned and painted them after disassembling the knuckles from the spindles and hubs.



Put the freshly painted knuckles on with new bearings after tapping in new races into the axle housing.











Stuck the shafts and birfs in the housing after putting a liberal amount of grease into the birf as well as filling the ball with grease.



Before i put the knuckles on i made sure i put the rubber, felt and metal ring on around the ball for later.



And what the back side of the knuckle looks like after bolting on the split rings.



Spindles all bolted up sealed up ready for the hubs and brakes.

 

Didnt get any pics of the rebuild of the hubs but i took them apart, cleaned them in my parts washer and reassembled them with grease before bolting them back on the truck so heres the pics after putting the hubs with repacked wheel bearings, fresh painted calipers, rebuilt hubs, and extended brake lines. One problem i ran into was that i found out that you cant do a u bolt flip on the driver side if you are using the stock push pull steering so i had to put the old u bolts back on after cleaning and painting them.



Front view after sitting it back on all fours.



Put the rear driveshaft on and pulled it out of the shop to get a better look at it. Started on the second turn of the motor after sitting 2 years and ran like it had just been driven the day before! truck sits perfectly level with the 63" chevy springs and rufs.





All thats left is to weld the shock hoops on, triangulate the rear shocks with tabs i got from trail gear since i put a u bolt flip kit on it, and put an extended rear brake line on. I also found that the truck wont steer all the way left because i moved the front axle forward by using the ruf springs so im going to have to shorten the steering rod that comes off the steering gear box down to the knuckle.

 

Very sick rig!

 

nice build!!!!! looks awesome, and functional. I do not believe i would have welded it though, welded is the strongest off road, but it will cause you to eat tires in the rear, and not be able to turn up front. Looks great though

 

We need to wheel together sometime Nice rig

 

I have to put shocks on it still then it will be done but i would like to take it to hidden falls in july sometime so ill send you a message if i can put a trip together with some guys.